Hello Everyone, It's that time of year again... The Lafayette Regional Science and Engineering Fair is upon us! (Friday, March 2) We need lots of volunteer judges, as there are 500+ students from grades 5-12 from 20 area schools. As always, a complimentary buffet dinner in the South Ballroom Purdue Memorial Union (4:30-5:45 pm) will precede judging in Stewart Center (6-9 pm). Please note that the Judges Room has been moved from the Stewart Center to the South Ballroom of the Purdue Memorial Union. Top 10 reasons to judge science fair: 10) Free dinner 9) It looks great on your resume/CV 8) You might learn something (I do every year!) 7) You see some really strange projects ("How much cigarette smoke does it take to kill a plant?") 6) Kids say funny things 5) You get to relay the funny things said by kids to your friends afterwards 4) These projects are not the most sophisticated, so you will feel really smart :) 3) It's a great way to inspire young students and give back to the scientific community- They're extremely excited to talk to "real scientists"! 2) Free cookies/coffee during judging 1) All that excitement about science is contagious! Significant others can judge too! (Remember, this is kid-level science) If you are willing to serve as a Judge this year, please register online using the directions below: Please see the attached document for judging categories, which can be used to help you decide which sections you might want to judge. Click HERE<http://www.sefi.org/register/judgeform.php?r=3> and fill in your information. In the "area of expertise" box, please enter up to three categories from the attached sheet that you are willing to judge. If you served previously as a special panel judge and you'd like to do so again, you can indicate that as well. (If the link above doesn't work, you copy-paste this URL http://www.sefi.org/register/judgeform.php?r=3 into your browser to navigate to the SEFI registration site) You will not get a reply email, but you will be getting more information as the date draws near. If you would like to recruit your friends, family members, or lab mates, just give them the category information and direct them to the registration link. I hope you can make it! We have a record number of projects again this year and need all the experienced judges we can get. Please feel free to ask if you have any questions. Best Regards, Phillip Rushton (prushton@purdue.edu<mailto:prushton@purdue.edu>) 2018 Judge Coordinator and Dr. Cynthia Stauffacher 2018 Director